Dual wheel spacers

ABSTRACT

Spacer for use in mounting dual tires on a truck wheel. Spacer has a circumferentially extending medial portion which is transversely compressible yet will positively maintain clearance between the tires.

United States Patent [72] Inventor William D. Walther 2.767.026 10/1956 Walther 4, 301/13 SM Dayton, Ohio 3,079,200 2/1963 Main .v 301/13 SM [21] Appl. No. 838,447 $143,376 8/1964 Di Federico... 301/13 SM [22] Filed July 2, 1969 451 Patented Nov. 30, 1971 FOREIGN PATENTS 1 Assignee The seelFwndr-v P Y 930.850 7/1955 Germany 1. 301 /13 SM Dayton, Ohio OTHER REFERENCES [54] DUAL WHEEL SPACERS llKrgngrinz German Printed Application No. 1.092.328

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs. 6

Primarv Examiner Richard J. Johnson [52] U.S.Cl .4 301/1311 511 1111. c1 1 B6011 11/06 Amway-Mack [50] Field of Search 301/12, 13, 13 SM ABSTRACT: Spacer for use in mounting dual tires on a truck [56] References Cited wheel. Spacer has a circumferentially extending medial por- UNITED STATES PATENTS tion which is transversely compressible yet will positively 2,100,626 1 1/1937 Brink 301/13 maintain clearance between the tires.

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INVENTOR- WILLIAM D. WALT HER BY Wham 6M1 WMW ATTORNEYS DUAL WHEEL SPACERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to improvements in spacers, space bands or separating means used in mounting dual tires on a vehicle wheel.

A conventional assembly for mounting dual ties, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,026 granted Oct. 16, I956 to The Dayton Steel Foundry Company as assignee of George Walther, Sr., includes the vehicle wheel, inner and outer rims mounting the tires, a spacer, and clamping elements for secure mounting of the inner rim-spacer-outer rim assembly on the felloe of the wheel.

The purpose of the spacer, which is an annular ring, is to maintain the inner and outer rims in a predetermined spacedapart condition axially of the wheel to provide clearance for the dual tires.

Conventional spacers have assumed a variety of shapes and forms. See, U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,626 granted Nov. 30, I937 to The Firestone Steel Products Co. as assignee of W. S. Brink, U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,026 referred to above, U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,841 granted Dec. 19, I96] to The Dayton Steel Foundry Company as assignee of D. A. Walther, U.S. Pat. No. 3,l43,376 granted Aug. 4, 1964 to The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company as assignee of M. A. Di Federico, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,194,606 granted July 13, I965 to The Dayton Steel Foundry Company as assignee of William D. Walther, the present inventor.

Irrespective of the particular shape and form of the conventional and prior art spacers, as identified above, each has the common characteristic of lateral flanges or marginal portions carried by a noncompressible medial portion engineered or constructed to maintain the flanges in fixed relative position when in operative contact or abutment with the rims to receive the lateral thrust of the rims. In other words, the prior art spacers have edges which are intended to mechanically restrict and prevent any relative movement of the inner and outer rrns assembled with the spacers on the wheel and held in place by pressure of the clamping elements.

However, it has been found that the prior art spacers having a noncompressible medial portion, spacers having inherent structural rigidity or nondeforrnability, an axially less deformable spacer" (see Col. 3, line I of U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,376), can be and have been permanently deformed by improper mounting, application of excessive clamping pressure, stresses or shocks during vehicle use, unbalanced inflation pressures in the dual tires, etc. A deformed spacer band, unless detected and corrected, is not desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved spacer for use in an assembly for mounting dual tires.

An improved spacer according to the invention has a circumferentially extending medial portion which is transversely compressible so that when the spacer is located radially of the wheel between the inner and outer rims and the clamping means is tightened to secure the assembly in place, the spacer will deform and the elastic energy then present will positively maintain the inner and outer rims in a predetermined spacedapart condition axially of the wheel to provide clearance for the dual tires.

Other objects of the invention and advantages thereof will be apparent in view of the following detailed disclosure considered in conjunction with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate two forms of a spacer according to the invention, each being a partial side elevation of a dual rim assembly in operative condition on a wheel; FIG. 2 is a cross section of a third form of spacer according to the invention; and, FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross section of the spacer illustrated in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An improved spacer according to the invention, referred to generally by the numeral 10, is used between an inner rim l1 and an outer rim 12 to mount dual tires (not shown) on a wheel 14 attached to a vehicle axle (not shown). The wheel 14 has a felloe 15 (felly surfaces) and carries the inner rim 11, the spacer l0 and the outer rim 12 which are secured to the wheel by clamping means such as a clamp lug 16 held by a nut 17 threaded on a bolt 18 extending radially of the wheel adjacent the felly surface 15. 3

Referring to FIGS. 1 and G, the felly surfaces 15 of a wheel 14 terminate at the axially inner end thereof in a standard 28 axially bevelled rim mounting surface 19. An inner rim 11 has an axially inclined circumferential mounting flange 20 slidably seated on and carried by the surface 19. The clamp lug 16 has an axially oriented or lateral leg 21 and a radially oriented or upright leg 22. The lateral leg 21 has an arcuate surface 23 on the radially inner side thereof for slidably engaging the felly surfaces 15 and a conical or axially inclined mounting surface 24 for matingly engaging a 28 axially inclined circumferential mounting flange 25 on the outer rim 12. An axial bore 26 through the radial leg 22 receives the studbolt 18 so that tightening of the nut 17 will move the clamp lug 16 into clamping engagement with the outer rim 12.

Referring to FIG. 1, the improved annular spacer indicated specifically by the numeral 10-1 has lateral portions terminating in radially outwardly directed edges 31 and a medial portion preferably having two radially outwardly concave annular ribs 32. The edges 31 must have sufficient rigidity or adequate structural strength as to transmit the mechanical forces attendant on axial movement of the rims (11 and 12) toward each other to the ribs 32 which are elastically deformed causing transverse compression of the spacer 10-1.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a nut 17 is tightened on bolt 18 the outer rim 12 will move axially of the felloe 15 (to the right in FIG. 1, from the chain line position to the full line position) toward the inner rim 11 now seated on the wheel surface 19. The resultant radially outward deformation of the ribs 32 (shown in FIG. 1, from the chain line position to the full line position) will positively maintain the rims 11 and 12 in a spaced-apart condition axially on the wheel 14 to provide clearance for the tires mounted thereon.

The spacer 10-1 is intended for fabrication from relatively thin steel sheet or coil stock (example 0.0625-inch thickness). It will be noted that a relatively thin metal stock requires that the edges 31 be folded back or stiffened to provide sufficient rigidity or adequate structural strength.

Referring to FIG. 2, the improved annular spacer indicated specifically by the numeral 10-2 has laterally outward directed edges 41 and two radially outwardly concave annular ribs 42. The spacer 10-2 is intended for fabrication from a relatively thick steel sheet or coil stock (example, 0. l 25-inch thickness). In FIG. 2, the precompression configuration is indicated in full lines and the operative position with transverse compression is indicated by the chain lines.

The dimensions and numerical values of FIG. 2 are intended to illustrate practice of the invention to provide a 20x4 inch spacer having a 4.l25-inch free length to compress to 4.000 inches when foot-pounds of torque is applied by tightening ofthe bolts 18.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the improved annular spacer indicated specifically by the numeral 10-3 has laterally outwardly directed edges 51 and one radially outwardly directed annular rib 52. The rib 52 is formed by two intersecting planar surfaces. When the spacer 10-3 is mounted between the rims 11 an 12, as shown in FIG. 3, the resultant angular change of the surfaces of the rib 52 will positively maintain the rims in a spaced-apart condition axially on the wheel 14 to provide clearance for tires mounted thereon.

Three forms of an improved spacer for use in mounting dual tires on a truck wheel-a spacer having a circumferentially exwith its edges between and contacting the inner and outer rims of a dual wheel and rim clamping means on the wheel are tightened, the spacer will be axially compressed and will serve to maintain the inner and outer rims in a predetermined mutually spaced-apart condition axially of said wheel.

2. A dual wheel spacer according to claim 1 wherein said medial portion has two radially outwardly concave annular ribs.

3. A dual wheel spacer according to claim 1 wherein said medial portion has one radially outwardly directed annular rib formed by two intersecting planar surfaces.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,623,773 Da November 30. 197].

Invento (s) William D. Walther It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 5, after "spacers," delete "space" and insert spacer line 8, after "dual" delete "ties," and insert tires, line 16; after "spaced" delete the hyphen; line 39, after "outer" delete "rms" and insert 1 ims line 43, delete "nondeformability," and insert non-deformability, line 73, after "cross" insert a hyphen; line 74, after "cross", insert a hyphen. Column 2, line 42, after "spaced", delete the'hyphen; line 45, after (example" and before "0.0625-inch" insert a comma; line 54, after "the" delete "precompression" and insert pre-compression line 60, after "190 foot" delete the hyphen; line 69, after "spaced" delete the hyphen; line 70, after "for" insert the Column 4, line 2, after "dual" insert a hyphen; line 5, after "spaced" delete the hyphen I Signed and sealed this 14th day of November 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. An annular dual-wheel rim spacer having a radially outwardly directed edge at each side and a circumferentially generally cylindrical medial portion between the edges having one or more symmetrically disposed radially outwardly extending flexible hollow annular ribs which are axially elastically compressible so that when in use the spacer is located with its edges between and contacting the inner and outer rims of a dual wheel and rim clamping means on the wheel are tightened, the spacer will be axially compressed and will serve to maintain the inner and outer rims in a predetermined mutually spaced-apart condition axially of said wheel.
 2. A dual wheel spacer according to claim 1 wherein said medial portion has two radially outwardly concave annular ribs.
 3. A dual wheel spacer according to claim 1 wherein said medial portion has one radially outwardly directed annular rib formed by two intersecting planar surfaces. 